


Easy Breathing

by PaisleyWraith



Series: KenMythology Universe [7]
Category: South Park
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 14:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14058633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaisleyWraith/pseuds/PaisleyWraith
Summary: Ever since learning of Kenny's curse, Kyle's made it his mission in life to give Kenny more positive experiences than negative wherever he can manage. Of course the 22nd of March is a notable day to try.





	Easy Breathing

Kenny was waiting at the library entrance by the time Kyle clocked out. He was looking at one of the tables with brown paper over the books, the ‘blind date’ table, as Kyle clocked out on the computer and grabbed his jacket and bookbag from under the desk.

He bid his coworker goodbye and slung his bookbag over his shoulder, sending a quick text before walking up to his boyfriend who beamed the moment he saw the boy walk towards him. Kyle grinned, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket to pull him out of the library.

“Come on,” He coaxed, and Kenny wordlessly fell into step with him. Kyle waited until he was at least out of sight of his coworkers before leaning over to kiss the boy sweetly on the lips.

“Happy Birthday,” He told him, and Kenny’s smile grew all the brighter.

“Thanks, babe,” Kenny said quietly, taking the moment to hold Kyle close. Neither of them said anything about the fact Kenny had been missing for a full day. While he was getting the hang of instantaneous regeneration, sometimes Kenny couldn’t quite manage it.

Kyle hadn’t been around for this one. He didn’t ask. But he knew. And by now, Kenny knew that he knew. Last time he’d been gone for more than a couple hours, he’d been gone a whole weekend. Once he managed to return, he’d snuck into Kyle’s room to crawl into bed, snuggling his terrified boyfriend and reassure him he was still alright.

Even now, Kyle wasn’t always sure Kenny would return. Whether he had a limited number of returns or not. Seeing him was a relief every time.

Kyle pulled his hoodie string out from under his hood, wrapping an arm around him as they walked towards Kyle’s house. Today wasn’t a time for that, however. Particularly with Kyle leaving soon, they really didn’t have enough time to just relax and have fun. It had been a while.

Today was nice, too. Crisp enough that the air felt refreshing, warm enough that the sun actually offered a little warmth. It eased his frayed nerves, the sunshine and the sunny boy walking next to him.

“Your family still out of town?” Kenny asked with a yawn, leaning into his side.

“Ike’s home,” Kyle said wryly. “I couldn’t get rid of him.”

Kenny laughed, pressing his cheek against Kyle’s curls. At this point he was nearly lying on Kyle, happiness nearly radiating off him.

That was the thing about Kenny. It didn’t take much to make him happy. What he treasured most was people, the few that he held against his heart and considered dearer than life. It was one of his greatest charms, and it made planning anything for Kenny pretty much a success on arrival.

Kyle purposely had walked to school today. The weather was finally getting bearable again and it was nice just to walk. He and Kenny headed back to Kyle’s house, walking shoulder to shoulder.

“Feel like ordering pizza?” Kyle asked, and Kenny made a noise of assent.

“That’s always a yes,” He said happily. He gave Kyle another half-squeeze. “Oh! Forgot, how’d that incident with the University go?”

“I got it fixed,” Kyle rolled his eyes. “Someone spelled my last name wrong on part of my official documents, so that confused everything. Just dumb shit.”

“It’s always the dumb shit,” Kenny mused airily.

“Motherfucker,” Kyle said, startling his boyfriend. He pulled out his phone, shoving his keys at Kenny. “If it’s another damned document I need to sign-”

Kenny laughed as he unlocked Kyle’s door for him. “You just need to drive there to sit in their office and not get up until everything’s done.”

Kyle tapped a button on his phone and smirked as Kenny swung open the door.

Kenny was immediately bombarded by a truly impressive amount of confetti bombs, shielding his face as multicolored strings followed the masses, paper fluttering to the ground.

Kenny was laughing, fighting the fray as the attackers lessened their offense. Kyle was grinning, picking bright green slime from his boyfriend’s hair before closing the door.

“About time!” Tweek was complaining, mismatched eyes glittering with humor. “How long does it take you two to leave the school?”

Kyle flicked the string at him, which didn’t come close to hitting him, as Butters let out a cheery “Happy Birthday!”

Kenny looked just about dumbstruck, covered in cut pieces of tissue paper, silly string hanging off him like a psychedelic spiderweb, and…hey, Kyle did _not_ authorize glitter bombs.

The regular crew stood in the living room, laughing at Kenny’s expression. Karen was holding what looked like Stan’s phone, a grin large enough to outshine the sun. Craig leaned against the couch Tweek was perched like a frazzled little bird upon, Stan slipping slightly on the confetti before playfully shoving Kenny out of his way to escape the piles of paper and spray.

Kenny’s friend Butters wasn’t part of the normal crew, nor was Karen, but this was Kenny’s regular squad. Before he fell back into Kyle’s life. How could he not draw them both in? They’d been ecstatic about being invited, and Kyle loved Karen even if he was shaky on his opinion of Butters. Even Ike peered from the top of the stairs, quickly retreating once he was noticed. He wasn’t really one for crowds, and his brother’s tended to be rowdy.

Kenny was smiling now, still oddly quiet, and he looked at Kyle when he walked around him. The boy smirked, pleased that he’d caught Kenny off-guard.

“I’m so glad Kyle had an adult to walk him home,” Craig teasingly prodded Kenny. “Are you going to be signing all your absent notes yourself the rest of the semester?”

Kenny laughed, the tension leaving his shoulders as he met Butters for a half-hug. “There’s a perk I didn’t think about. ‘please excuse me the rest of the day. Not feeling it. Love, Kenny.’”

They laughed as Kyle was intercepted by Karen, who more or less demanded her brother’s boyfriend hug her before heading to the kitchen.

“Thanks, Kyle,” The girl said fervently, giving him a squeeze before flying into Kenny’s arms.

She was spending the day at Ruby’s but wanted to see her brother react to the little surprise party. And it was little, there weren’t many gifts (as not only were the majority of them hit for money, any sort of thing like that tended to make Kenny uncomfortable…he’d become so obnoxious in his teen years about that), the food was various types of pizza, and the cake was simple but thoughtful. Kyle had vetoed any kind of alcohol once he realized Ike would still be home, not to mention Karen being around, which was met to some protest but Kyle could damn well out-argue anyone.

Kyle had said Karen was welcome to stay, but she hadn’t wanted to step on anyone’s toes. Kenny might’ve convinced her to stick around, however, because once Kyle checked that the pizzas arrived were indeed what the crew paid for, Karen was sitting on the back of the couch with Tweek, who didn’t seem to mind the girl.

That’s right, being Ruby’s friend she would have seen Tweek several times over at the Tucker house. Tweek practically lived there.

“Well I’m not serving you,” Kyle said haughtily, a grin breaking through on his face. “It’s self-serve in the kitchen. Forage for yourselves.”

It was a loud, trample-y sort of self serve, Butters stuck very close to Kenny and Karen at first but started to open up a little as Kyle hooked up the main TV to play video games. Ike was halfway down the stairs at this point, drawn in by the promise of pizza and Mario Kart, and Kenny caught sight of him and waved him downstairs. He thought about it a moment and carefully accepted, stuck to Kyle’s side. At first.

Quickly it was found out that pitting Craig against Tweek was fucking hilarious. While the duo made one of the most perfect pairs, they also were fairly relentless in how they treated each other. Tweek, not surprisingly at this point, had all the cutting remarks and Craig mocked gently in reply, making it a truly amusing match. Kenny was not great at it, Ike sent a snarky comment about turning on self-steer and acceleration for the boy, which quickly turned into Kenny demanding someone give the kid a controller so he could kick his ass. Which was a mistake, of course.

Kyle sat back with a sugar-free drink and his lone, veggie pizza, and just watched. Ike alternated every other race with Karen, who was really getting into it and was superior to her brother, at least. Butters was laughing with Stan over Kenny’s misfortunes, the Everlasting Duo leveling some truly below-belt remarks at one another as they bought for the leadership position.

Kyle wasn’t sure Kenny had stopped smiling the entire time.

This was what Kenny liked best. The people he cared for, being surrounded, everyone upbeat and well-fed and nothing pressing on his back. Sometimes Kenny was too much of an adult. He might be legally an adult now, but he’d been an adult for a long time. Too long. Sometimes you just needed to get friends together and do dumb shit. Kyle was glad to see Kenny relaxed.

And he should like his gift from Kyle. He’d purchased a card for a clothing store that wasn’t thrift or deals, with a fairly exorbitant amount on it. And he didn’t expect Kenny to get himself but maybe a couple things. If any.

He knew Kenny wanted Karen to have a nicer wardrobe, particularly since she was about to graduate high school and go off to college. For her senior year, she deserved something nice. And this would take the stress off him and Karen would have some clothes that were name brand. Because yes, unfortunately that mattered.

He was fairly certain Kenny would approve.

Kyle passed up a turn to play, content to watch. With everything that had happened over the past few years, he didn’t get to sit back often. And watching Kenny laughing and teasing and glowing was more than enough to entertain.

No one ever seemed to love Kenny properly. Kyle would be hard-pressed to find someone like him anywhere else. Kenny was dorky, he was sweet, he was eager and upbeat and resilient, selfless and loving and forgiving. He put his sister before himself and the rest of the world, and had come to place Kyle on almost the same tier.

His life improved dramatically since Kenny walked back in. Hard to believe it wasn’t really that long ago when Kyle was alone, isolated, avoiding Kenny and everything he felt. Whatever the reason had been for the Loop, as much as it still haunted his dreams and made Thursday something terrifying, he was grateful for it. And for Kenny, who reacted in a way no one else would have. And anyhow, it did give him some insight into Kenny’s own curse.

Kyle watched Kenny throw his hands in the air when he managed not to make his character mourn his lack of skills, Tweek triumphantly handing the controller off to Stan as he kicked his boyfriend’s ass.

As time went on, Kyle was losing hope that he could figure this all out. He still was trying, he had several folders on his computer devoted to researching the cult and had started to branch out to studying different countries.

Kenny didn’t deserve a lot of what he was given. Kyle’s gaze settled on his lightly-freckled face, smacktalking his friends when he had no skills to talk smack about.

If Kyle had been some benevolent god, he would have given Kenny everything, because he’d deserve it. And yes, that was a dumb, stupid thing to think, but Kyle could be quite dumb and stupid when it came to what he felt. He never half-assed anything, after all.

They’d of course gotten a cake. A break was taken to focus on it, chocolate upon chocolate and elegantly decorated: Tweek having piped ‘thanks for not dying today’ on the top in elegant cursive. The sight earned something of a squeak and a snort from Kenny, who promptly burst into laughter afterwards and demanded a picture.

The inside joke was, of course and thankfully, lost on Ike, Butters, and Karen, but Stan seemed trying really hard not to laugh to the point of contorting his face to truly amusing expressive interpretations, Craig was hiding a smile behind his glass of soda and Tweek looked satisfied with himself.

He for one didn’t appreciate it, but Kyle let it go and merely shook his head.

They’d tracked in glitter and confetti from the living room, but he’d worry about that later. They crowded around the Broflovskis’ table, chattering with one another and simply existing for the moment. Kyle sat next to Kenny, who at one point had gotten up to get something to drink and leaned over to kiss his cheek in front of the table.

Kyle tried to hide how pleased his smile had become, but he was teased for it anyway. He aimed a kick at Tweek for it under the table, accidentally kicking Stan instead and earning more mockery.

It was while hearing Butters take up for Kyle laughingly, as Ike took the initiative to make his brother more of a joke, that Kyle had rolled his eyes and caught sight of Kenny.

The boy was just standing in the kitchen, silent and still, watching the group with a faraway kind of smile on his face. Body posture relaxed, glass in his hands, seemingly soaking it all in.

His blue eyes met Kyle’s, and his smile softened to affectionate levels. Kyle found himself smiling in return, ignoring the rest of the table.

 _You deserve so much,_ Kyle thought with feeling. And he now had the opportunity to make his life better. Kenny wasn’t alone in everything. His worries for the future, for Karen, his curse. They were their problems now, and they were definitely Kyle’s. He gladly shouldered it. Kenny deserved so much. Kyle would gladly spend the rest of his life making sure he was happy. Gladly. For however many birthdays to come.

The boys remained quiet, enjoying the chatter of friends as the night wore on.


End file.
